| Acid: |
Aqueous solutions with pH less than 7 (Scale 1/14) Not recommended in Better Engineering machinery. |
| Alkaline: |
Aqueous solutions with a pH greater than 7 (Scale 1-14). Also called basic. |
| Alkaline builders: |
Alkaline salts used with wetting agents to build a cleaner. i.e. Sodium carbonate, caustic soda, borax, sodium tripolyphosphate, sodium hydroxide. |
| Alkaline cleaning: |
Alkaline salts, usually caustic, silicates, phosphates, together with a balanced amount of surfactant form the cleaner which is then dissolved in hot water and sprayed onto dirty parts to remove soils. |
| Aqueous cleaning: |
Cleaning parts with water to which may be added suitable detergents, saponifiers, or other additives. |
| Base: |
Same as alkaline |
| Biodegradable: |
Products can easily be broken down or digested by, for example, sewage treatment. |
| Buffers: |
Ingredients that help to maintain a pH level that resists neutralization. |
| Caustics: |
A strong alkaline; the term, when used alone usually refers to caustic soda (sodium hydroxide). |
| Chelated: |
The mechanism by which chemicals used for softening water in cleaning compounds "binds" calcium and magnesium ions to prevent them from causing precipitation reactions which result in hard water scale. |
| Chelators: |
Agents that allow the solution to solubilize metallic compounds such as rust, scale and iron. |
| Coalescence: |
Small, discrete particles that are brought together to form a single, larger particulate. |
| Deionized water (DI): |
Water that has had a majority of its ions removed. DI water can be aggressive and cause corrosion on mild steel, aluminum, copper, brass and many other less resistant metals. Stainless steel has better resistance to DI water corrosion. |
| Detergency: |
Cleansing quality or power. |
| Detergent: |
Usually made from synthetic surfactants, designed to emulsify oils and hold dirt. |
| Emulsify: |
The dispersion or suspension of fine particles or globules of one or more liquids in another liquid. |
| Inhibitors: |
Agents that reduce or prevent substrate damage. |
| Neutralize: |
The point at which a solution or product has a pH of 7. Neutralization is the act of adding an acid to a base, or vice-versa, in order to obtain a neutral solution. |
| Oxidation: |
To combine with oxygen, producing heat and light (combustion), oxidized compounds (rust, scale), or a breakdown of metallic surfaces. |
| pH: |
A scale ranging from 1 to 14 measuring acidity or alkalinity. |
| Phosphates: |
The workhorse of built detergents. Phosphates are alkalis which sequester hard water, provide alkalinity , suspend solids, and add bulk to cleaning compounds. Can also refer to the coating formed on certain metals by the reaction of acid phosphate with the metal; i.e. iron phosphate, zinc phosphate. |
| Plating: |
Using the flow of electricity through a solution to deposit a coating of metal, generally decorative, on an object of some other metal. |
| Saponify: |
The making of soap by the action of a base on a fat or oil. |
| Saponifiers: |
Chemicals that convert organic compounds into water soluble soaps. |
| Scale: |
A layer of insoluble salts of calcium and magnesium carbonate, or phosphate, which have been precipitated from water by heat or chemical reaction, or have been left behind as water evaporates. |
| Sequestering: |
Agents that allow the solution to solubilize metallic compounds such as rust, scale and iron. |
| Sequestrant: |
The use of polyphosphates to sequester or chemically lock-up the lime and magnesium in hard water, thus preventing the formation of film on parts or scale in machines. |
| Silicates: |
These are water-soluble, white solids used in powder or granular form as ingredients of metal cleaning compounds. They contribute emulsifying power, alkaline reserve, and protection of metals against corrosion. |
| Solubility: |
The ability to mix homogeneously a substance that will dissolve in a specified amount of another substance. |
| Surface tension: |
The behavior on the surface of a liquid dependent on the intermolecular forces that creates a condition similar to an elastic skin. |
| Surfactant: |
A chemical agent that reduces the surface tension of water. It allows a water.surfactant solution to penetrate soils better than water alone. |
| Turbidity: |
A measure of clarity of a solution. |
| Ultrafiltration: |
Filtration through a semi-permeable wall that allows water molecules to pass, but holds back larger ones. |
| Volatile Organic Compound (VOC): |
These are constituents that will evaporate at their temperature of use and which, by a photochemical reaction, will cause atmospheric oxygen to be converted into potential smog-promoting tropospheric ozone under favorable climate. |
Specializing in parts washers, parts cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning, degreasers, conveyor washers and belt washers.
